In production textile mills, a wide variety of yarns are available to produce an array of textile products. Unfortunately, many of these various textile yarns are not clearly distinguishable from one another which makes inventory control a very difficult problem. The yarn packages must be carefully marked or labelled or reliably maintained in compartments or racks that are clearly marked.
Several arrangements which provide a color coded attachment to the yarn carrier have been proposed to identify the different yarns. For example, Gottlieb U.S. Pat. No. 2,026,032 shows a spool with a color coded cap attached to the end of the spool. Morris U.S. Pat. No. 3,033,489 and Fletcher No. 3,425,149 show inserts which are received in the hollow ends of the textile carriers. Each of these arrangements, however, extends out and away from the yarn carrier putting the color coded identification portions in a position potentially to be knocked off the yarn carrier. In production textile mills, yarn packages are handled sometimes in a rough manner and it is likely that if the identification can be knocked off, it will.
Other more complicated devices for identifying the particular type of yarn and the yarn carrier include Atwood U.S. Pat. No. 2,359,604 and Hagmann No. 3,592,407, et al. Atwood shows a textile spool with a metallic end member crimped on to the end. An identification disk may be received into the end of the metallic end member and held in place by several projections. Hagmann shows a two piece color coded insert for the end of a bobbin wherein each of the two pieces are separately color coded to identify the yarn. The two pieces are joined together to provide a more secure fit on the end of the bobbin. Hagmann, however, extends out and away from the bobbin and is likely to be knocked out accidentally. Atwood has the identification insert received down deep into the spool where it is difficult to manipulate the identification disk in and out.
An additional problem with yarn packages is retaining the end or tail of the yarn during subsequent processing or shipment. This is commonly accomplished by providing an angular cut at the edge of the bobbin or spool, and sliding the yarn into the cut to catch and hold the yarn securely. Examples of such devices include Egyptien U.S. Pat. 3,955,775, et al., Kelly 4,063,696, et al., and Cunningham No. 4,018,401. However, providing the angular cuts at the edge of the spool will interfere with the coded end caps as discussed above.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a yarn carrier having a single means for both identifying the particular type of yarn which is wound on the carrier, and for catching the free yarn end, and while avoiding the drawbacks of the prior art as discussed above.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a winding method utilizing a tube of the above type, and wherein the yarn identification means is visible on the finished package.